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Tag Archives: World Cinema
Review: Parasite (2019)
I fell in love with the genre-hopping, tonally-tromboning work of South Korean firebrand Bong Joon-ho at university and ended up writing my dissertation on how his films represent fractured families and Korean culture. I’ve been waiting for PARASITE for what … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review
Tagged Black Comedy, Bong Joon-ho, Jang Hye-jin, Lee Sun-kyun, Parasite, Park So-dam, Song Kang-ho, The Host, Thriller, Trainspotting, World Cinema
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Review in Brief: Atlantics (2019)
I didn’t know what to expect from ATLANTICS. You’re drawn in with a social realist take but what stays with you is the magical realism that comes into this Senegalese story’s second half. Construction worker Souleiman (Traore) protests against unpaid … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review
Tagged Amadou Mbow, Atlantics, Drama, Mame Bineta Sane, Mati Diop, Traore, World Cinema
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Review in Brief: Soni (2018/19)
The best thing about Netflix as a service is how it encourages the democratisation of cinema. So many promising new, diverse voices would not have an outlet without the streaming giant. SONI is a hidden gem, and you should all … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review
Tagged Drama, Geetika Vidya Ohlyan, Netflix, Saloni Batra, Soni, World Cinema
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Review in Brief: The Wandering Earth (2019)
THE WANDERING EARTH either needed to be a lot smarter or a little bit dumber to really land. It’s fascinating to see China enter the international blockbuster arena in earnest with the killer premise of building monolithic engines on the … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review
Tagged Blockbuster, Disaster Movie, Frant Gwo, Sci-fi, The Wandering Earth, World Cinema
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Review: Roma (2018)
You’re probably going to decide whether ROMA is for you or not by its opening shot, a very long shot of soapy water washing up and down some flagstones. It certainly sets the mood and the pace of the piece, … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review
Tagged Alfonso Cuarón, Children of Men, Drama, Fernando Gridiaga, Marina de Tavira, Marooned, Netflix, Oscars, Roma, World Cinema, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Yalitza Aparicio
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Review: Shoplifters (2018)
The list of Japanese films about petty crime and forgotten underclasses is short. The other that immediately springs to mind is TOKYO GODFATHERS and like Satoshi Kon’s Christmas animation, SHOPLIFTERS follows an unconventional family unit brought together on the streets … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review
Tagged Drama, Hirokazu Koreeda, Jyo Kairi, Kirin Kiki, Lily Franky, Mayu Matsuoka, Miyu Sasaki, Sakura Andô, Satoshi Kon, Shoplifters, Tokyo Godfathers, World Cinema
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Review in Brief: Errementari (2017/18)
ERREMENTARI is a little gothic gem. It feels like what would happen if Guillermo del Toro remade one of James Whale’s darker Universal Horror films. “Errementari” is Basque for blacksmith, so appropriately this tells the tale of a village blacksmith … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review
Tagged Black Comedy, Errementari, Guillermo del Toro, Horror, James Whale, Kandigo Uranga, Uma Bracaglia, World Cinema
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Review in Brief: Manhunt (2017/18)
Surprise, surprise, John Woo’s latest is very John Woo. MANHUNT’s action may take a while to really ramp up, but once it does you’ve got more people flying through the air, sliding along surfaces and rapidly expending and replacing guns … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review
Tagged Action, Hanyu Zhang, John Woo, Manhunt, Martial Arts, Masaharu Fukuyama, Netflix, World Cinema
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Review: Mary and the Witch’s Flower (2017)
MARY AND THE WITCH’S FLOWER, the first film from Studio Ghibli successors Studio Ponoc looks stunning, but it does feel insubstantial. That’s not to say it’s bad, it’s just not really about much. I’m prepared to forgive a lot because … Continue reading
